Lasagne di Zucca al Forno (Butternut Squash Lasagna)

OK, you’ve had your RavioliFest. You didn’t use all of the butternut squash filling that you made for the ravioli. What do you make for dinner the next night?

Butternut squash lasagna, of course. Lasagna is a great way to use up leftover pasta filling, roasted vegetables, cheese… If all you’ve ever had is lasagna with tomato sauce, ground meat and mozzarella, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how versatile lasagna can be. (Not that there’s anything wrong with lasagna with tomato sauce, ground meat and mozzarella. That may, in fact, be one of my Top Ten Things I’d Most Like To See If I Were Stranded On A Desert Island, somewhere between a two-way radio and a big box of matches.)

The key to lasagna is sauce béchamel (or, to use its Italian name, besciamella). Any lasagna can be constructed out of four constituent parts:

1) lasagna noodles

2) bechamel sauce

3) sauce/filling/leftover vegetables/ragout

4) topping

The beautiful thing is that items #2, 3 and 4 can be made in advance, which means that lasagna can be assembled in the time it takes to boil pasta plus about 20-30 minutes of unsupervised baking. In other words, a little advance planning makes homemade lasagna a weeknight possibility.

Assuming that you haven’t recently made ravioli with a bunch of your friends and therefore have leftover butternut squash filling, we’ll start from scratch:

Butternut Squash Filling:

1 butternut squash, halved, seeds removed and discarded

1/2 c pecans, almonds or hazelnuts, chopped

1 c Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated

generous grating of nutmeg

dash of cayenne pepper

Bechamel Sauce:

2 T butter, olive oil or a combination

2 T flour

2 c milk

1 bay leaf

1 clove of garlic, peeled

generous grating of nutmeg

Topping:

1/2 c pecans, almonds or hazelnuts, chopped

1/2 c Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated

olive oil, as needed

1 box (1 lb.) lasagna noodles (I’ve never used those “no-boil” lasagna noodles. I’m sure that, mutatis mutandis, they would work fine in this recipe, but I’ll let you figure that out for yourself.)

butter, as needed for buttering the baking dish

Step #1: Roast the butternut squash.

Step #2: Make the bechamel.

Step #3: Make the topping.

Step #4: Boil the lasagna noodles.

Step #5: Make the butternut squash filling.

Step #6: Assemble and bake the lasagna.

#1: Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the butternut squash halves face up on a baking sheet and place on the middle rack of the oven. Roast until tender and golden brown, about 1 hour.

#2: In a medium saucepan, prepare the bechamel: Melt the butter (or heat the olive oil) over medium heat. Stir in the flour to form a roux. The key to a roux is to cook it enough to get rid of the raw, floury taste, but not so long that it begins to turn brown (unless you’re going to make Cajun food). So, heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. When it looks like the flour and fat have formed a uniform, shiny paste, whisk in the milk. Add the bay leaf, garlic, a pinch of salt and a generous grind of pepper. Heat over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally, for about 20 minutes. This bechamel should be on the thin side, about the consistency of heavy cream.

#3: Make the topping: Stir the nuts and grated cheese together in a bowl; add some black pepper. Set aside.

#4: When the squash has been in the oven for about 30 minutes, put a large pot of water on the stove and set the heat to high. If your stove is like mine, it will take about 20-30 minutes to bring the water to a boil. When you have a rolling boil, generously salt the water and add the lasagna noodles. Stir the water so that the noodles don’t stick together; cook for about 2 minutes shy of the package directions. They should still be the slightest bit raw and crunchy in the center when you take them out. (They will finish cooking in the oven.) Drain, toss with olive oil (so they don’t stick together) and reserve.

#5: When the squash is fully cooked, scoop out the flesh into a large mixing bowl; discard the skin. Stir in the remaining filling ingredients.

#6: Time to assemble the lasagna! Keep the oven at 400 degrees (or preheat the oven to 400 if you haven’t just roasted the squash). Butter the bottom and sides of a rectangular baking dish. Coat the bottom of the dish with a layer of bechamel. Set as many lasagna noodles as necessary to form a single layer over the bechamel. Scoop on a few generous spoonfuls of squash filling.

Spread the filling as thin as you can, then drizzle on some more bechamel. Add another layer of noodles, then some more filling. Repeat, alternating layers of bechamel, noodles and filling, until the baking dish is filled to the top. Pour any remaining bechamel over the top and down the sides of the lasagna. Sprinkle the topping over the lasagna and drizzle some olive oil on top.

Bake the lasagna for 20-30 minutes, until it looks like this:

Remove from the oven, let sit for 5 minutes, then slice into squares and serve.